The Bottom Line: Getting a refund? Use it to retire debt

Your first thought may involve spending some of that hard-earned money on a pair of Jimmy Choo stilettos, a TaylorMade R11 S Driver or a trip to the Wine Country.

However, spending that money on your fiscal health or future may be a wiser investment than buying designer shoes, a high-tech golf club or splurging on a weekend getaway.

Jeff Motske, president and CEO of Huntington Beach-based Trilogy Financial Services, has a few suggestions, including investing in one's personal future, be it retirement, a business opportunity or a college plan for children.

Trilogy has more than 200 employees working in 11 offices in four states and handles more than $2 billion in client-invested assets and more than 40,000 clients.

"Nowadays, 529 savings plans are really popular for college savings," said Motske, who founded Trilogy in 1999. "They're really easy to set up and they're a really great place to take a part of their tax refund and put it into the college plan to get it started."

Putting away money, even small amounts, "makes a big difference" when the time comes to start paying tuition bills, which are pretty expensive these days, Motske said.

He also suggested knocking out any bad debt, namely credit card debt.

"That revolving debt is just going to stay with them and grow," he said.

"That's just bad debt to own. ... A lot of times they don't really realize how that adds up when they're paying 14, 16, sometimes even 18 percent (interest rates) on credit cards."

He prioritized paying off bad debt above all else.

"Whatever their No. 1 goal is that they want to accomplish, that's what they should go after," he said. "Any bad debt should be covered first. If they can wipe that out, do it."

Meanwhile, Motske said income earners should consider reviewing just how much in taxes is being taken out of their paychecks.

"The first thing I always tell my clients that if it's a recurring thing they should meet with an adviser and adjust their withholdings so that money is paid to them on a monthly basis and they can have more money throughout the year to invest," he said. "You may not get as large of a tax return, but you will receive more money all year long."